ME and RAM

I have seen it mentioned on this board that Windows ME can handle up to2GB of RAM. I currently have 250 MB. When I tried to add anadditional 250 MB, the computer would not boot up. I was told that MEcannot handle 500 MB of RAM and that I should buy XP. What is thetruth?

>I have seen it mentioned on this board that Windows ME can handle up to>2GB of RAM. I currently have 250 MB. When I tried to add an>additional 250 MB, the computer would not boot up. I was told that ME>cannot handle 500 MB of RAM and that I should buy XP. What is the>truth?>>Many thanks in advance for any assistance,>Peter.

You should not have any difficulties whatever running WindowsMe with500 (probably actually 512) mb of RAM.

There is a configuration setting that needs to be entered if you*exceed* 512 mb of RAM and there can be hardware-related issues thatarise if you go beyond 1 gb of RAM. Insofar as I am aware nobody hasever been able to get Windows Me to operate with more than 1.5 gb ofRAM installed and available.

Try your computer with just the new RAM module installed and see if itboots up okay. If not then the new module is defective or notinstalled properly. If it boots okay then reinsert the original RAMand try again. It could be that your two sets of RAM are notcompatible with each other, although in that situation mostmotherboards will just reduce the RAM speed to the lowest commondenominator.

<MajorSetback@excite.com> wrote in messagenews:1126374269.499269.200690@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...> I have seen it mentioned on this board that Windows ME can handle up to> 2GB of RAM. I currently have 250 MB. When I tried to add an> additional 250 MB, the computer would not boot up. I was told that ME> cannot handle 500 MB of RAM and that I should buy XP. What is the> truth?

I have 512MB of RAM in my ME system right now. I bought it with 256M andthe upgrade was to just plug in a second memory module, after ensuring thatall the parmeters for the RAM were the same. I went to the trouble to getthe same manufacturer, since I've seen mixed vendor RAMs cause problems atwork, but in theory this shouldn't have been necessary.

Whilst Win9x operating system such as Win Me can handle up to 2GB of RAM(although often there are problems with greater than 1GB) it is essentialto limit the virtual cache to no more than 512MB since if you allow thecache to exceed 512MB this will mean that you run out of upper memoryaddresses and get Out of Memory errors. Note that this will still meanthat all memory is available to applications but is simply limiting theamount used as virtual cache memory See KB 253912 - ""Out of Memory"Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed"(http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=253912).

See also:MS KB 296773 - "Computer May Not Hibernate with More Than 192 MB ofMemory" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=296773). This makes referenceto an updated file vmm.vxd. Contact Microsoft, explain the problem, andmention 296773 and you should be given details of how to obtain the patchand the password of the day. Note that there should be no support chargefor this call other than for any telecom charges incurred in ringingMicrosoft.

> I have seen it mentioned on this board that Windows ME can handle up> to 2GB of RAM. I currently have 250 MB. When I tried to add an> additional 250 MB, the computer would not boot up. I was told that ME> cannot handle 500 MB of RAM and that I should buy XP. What is the> truth?>> Many thanks in advance for any assistance,

That's BS. Am running 98SE on one PC, has 512MB of RAM installed. And thefull amount of RAM is noted in 98SE. Same PC also boots ME, same thing.The numbers are probably 256 and 512 MB, not 250/500. The former arenumerical multiple units of 1024 based on binary, as are all RAM.Irregardless, your numbers are inaccurate.

Wherever you heard the info, put a "don't believe" stamp on him/her/it.<MajorSetback@excite.com> wrote in messagenews:1126374269.499269.200690@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...> I have seen it mentioned on this board that Windows ME can handle up to> 2GB of RAM. I currently have 250 MB. When I tried to add an> additional 250 MB, the computer would not boot up. I was told that ME> cannot handle 500 MB of RAM and that I should buy XP. What is the> truth?>> Many thanks in advance for any assistance,> Peter.>

Mike M wrote:> Peter,>> Whilst Win9x operating system such as Win Me can handle up to 2GB of RAM> (although often there are problems with greater than 1GB) it is essential> to limit the virtual cache to no more than 512MB since if you allow the> cache to exceed 512MB this will mean that you run out of upper memory> addresses and get Out of Memory errors. Note that this will still mean> that all memory is available to applications but is simply limiting the> amount used as virtual cache memory See KB 253912 - ""Out of Memory"> Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed"> (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=253912).

Hi Mike,

Thank you for your reply and sorry about my own tardy reply. For somereason I did not have any problems booting up this time. I now have640 MB of RAM with ME and am having no significant problems. Iinitially installed the new 512 MB card by itself and got the followingmessage when I booted up.

Scanregw has caused an error in SCANREGW.EXE. Scanregw will now close.

When I tried to start MS Explorer I got a message that it hadencountered a problem and would close. This was followed by the ``SendError Report'', ``Don't Send'' options. I had no problem with Netscapeand the MS Explorer problem went away, for the most part, when Irebooted. It still happens unexpectedly at times which is why I amwriting this through Netscape.

When I added an additional 128 MB (one of the two old cards I had), Igot a bunch of error messages such as.Windows encountered an error accessing the registry and will repair theregistry for you and restart the computer.WinWord has caused an error in VBE.DLL and will now close.ExCel has caused an error in VBA332.DLL and will now close.wmiexe has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL and will now close.

However after a couple more reboots, everything seems to be working OK. No problems with MS Word, MS ExCel or MS PowerPoint.

Regarding Virtual Memory, I have it set for Windows to handle that. Icould not find Virtual Cache under Help.

Many thanks for your reply. For some reason I did not have problemswhen I installed more memory this time. Perhaps I had a virus lasttime. I have been pulling out all the stops lately to get rid ofviruses, spyware etc. The new card (512 MB) was made by CentonElectronics while the old one (128 MB) came with the computer which wasa GenuineIntel. They are both in and, so far, no significant problemsapart from a few hiccoughs I mentioned to Mike.

Thank you very much for your message. I took your advice and installedthe new (512 MB) memory by itself. No major problems apart from theerrors messages I mentioned to Mike and the initial problem with MSExplorer. It is a bit early to tell if the latter problem has goneaway. I'm currently using Netscape to be on the safe side. Anyway, Isubsequently installed one of the old cards (128 MB) as well and the PCseems to still be working fine so far.

Yes I understand the 2^n business and its basis. I'm not sure why Iinadvertently said 250 and 500. Presumably I was preoccupied with theprimary issue. Anyway, thanks for letting me know that you had noproblems with 512 MB on ME. It is helpful to know that it can be done.

Mike M wrote:> Peter,>> Please read KB 253912 - ""Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts> of RAM Installed" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=253912). It tells> you all you need and until you limit vcache to 512000 or similar you are> going to have PROBLEMS. Not all the time but they will jump up and bite> you in the butt at the most inconvenient of times unless you limit vcache.> :-)> --> Mike Maltby> mike.maltby@gmail.com>

I added the following to c:\windows\system.ini.

[vcache]MinFileCache=51200MaxFileCache=512000

Now Windows will not start up. All I get is the wallpaper. Justbefore this happens, I get the message,"Explorer has caused an error in <unknown>. Explorer will now close"

Please read KB 253912 - ""Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=253912). It tells you all you need and until you limit vcache to 512000 or similar you are going to have PROBLEMS. Not all the time but they will jump up and bite you in the butt at the most inconvenient of times unless you limit vcache. :-)-- Mike Maltbymike.maltby@gmail.com

MajorSetback@excite.com <MajorSetback@excite.com> wrote:

> Thank you for your reply and sorry about my own tardy reply. For some> reason I did not have any problems booting up this time. I now have> 640 MB of RAM with ME and am having no significant problems. I> initially installed the new 512 MB card by itself and got the> following message when I booted up.>> Scanregw has caused an error in SCANREGW.EXE. Scanregw will now close.>>> When I tried to start MS Explorer I got a message that it had> encountered a problem and would close. This was followed by the> ``Send Error Report'', ``Don't Send'' options. I had no problem with> Netscape and the MS Explorer problem went away, for the most part,> when I rebooted. It still happens unexpectedly at times which is why> I am writing this through Netscape.>> When I added an additional 128 MB (one of the two old cards I had), I> got a bunch of error messages such as.> Windows encountered an error accessing the registry and will repair> the registry for you and restart the computer.> WinWord has caused an error in VBE.DLL and will now close.> ExCel has caused an error in VBA332.DLL and will now close.> wmiexe has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL and will now close.>> However after a couple more reboots, everything seems to be working> OK. No problems with MS Word, MS ExCel or MS PowerPoint.>> Regarding Virtual Memory, I have it set for Windows to handle that.> I could not find Virtual Cache under Help.>> Thanks again,> Peter.

As my previous message suggests, that I now have major problems withthat much memory. I was also getting this message``Windows has encountered an error accessing the registry and willrepair the registy for you and start the computer.''Well, it certainly restarted the computer, over and over, and keptgiving the same message along with other stuff like."Explorer has caused an error in <unknown>. Explorer will now close""Explorer has caused an error in VBE.DLL. Explorer will now close""Explorer has caused an error in VBA332. Explorer will now close""Explorer has caused an error in KERNELL32.DLL. Explorer will nowclose""Cannot launch Direct OCR"

I tried to reinstall Windows ME but was unable to do so until Iswitched the memory cards back to 256 MB.

The errors you are seeing are not a result of the amount of memory you have installed. Check that all your memory is properly seated, it is quite possible that your problems are due to either faulty memory or wrongly seated memory.-- Mike Maltbymike.maltby@gmail.com

MajorSetback@excite.com <MajorSetback@excite.com> wrote:

> As my previous message suggests, that I now have major problems with> that much memory. I was also getting this message> ``Windows has encountered an error accessing the registry and will> repair the registy for you and start the computer.''> Well, it certainly restarted the computer, over and over, and kept> giving the same message along with other stuff like.> "Explorer has caused an error in <unknown>. Explorer will now close"> "Explorer has caused an error in VBE.DLL. Explorer will now close"> "Explorer has caused an error in VBA332. Explorer will now close"> "Explorer has caused an error in KERNELL32.DLL. Explorer will now> close"> "Cannot launch Direct OCR">> I tried to reinstall Windows ME but was unable to do so until I> switched the memory cards back to 256 MB.>> Thanks,> Peter.

"Mike M" <No_Spam@Corned_Beef.Only> wrote in messagenews:eOocG8JvFHA.596@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...> The errors you are seeing are not a result of the amount of memory you> have installed. Check that all your memory is properly seated, it is> quite possible that your problems are due to either faulty memory or> wrongly seated memory.

Depending on the motherboard, I've also seen this sort of trouble when thememories were not compatible with each other. Some (many I've worked with)don't handle memories with different timing characteristics, especiallyaccess times, well. In theory, the chipset should be able to set differentbanks to different speeds, but sometimes the BIOS doesn't bother to do it.Or the way the board was built defeats the capability. Another fun glitch Ifound was that the memory was banked in pairs. Four sockets, two per bank,and they weren't contiguous. Bank 0 was slots 1 & 3, bank 1 was slots 2 &4. Putting the modules in the wrong slots (i.e.: 512M in 1&2, 256M in 3 &4) got some damn strange behavior. Reported size was 1024M (which shouldhave been a clue to the user) but half of it really didn't work. Since theBIOS defaulted to fast memory check, it didn't catch the problem.